The present invention generally relates to impact testers, and particularly to impact testers having a safety mechanism.
Impact tests are laboratory tests performed to measure the response of a material to dynamic loading. The most common laboratory test configurations are the pendulum machine and the drop tower.
Pendulum machines include a pendulum of known mass and length that is released from a known height to impact a sample of material. During the fall from its raised position, the pendulum's potential energy decreases, changing into kinetic energy. The difference between the pendulum height at the moment of release and the maximum height attained after fracturing the specimen is a measure of the impact energy absorbed by the specimen.
Impact testing machines are typically of the Charpy type, the Izod type, tension impact or shear impact testing type. These various types of impact testing machines differ from one another primarily in the shape of the specimen, in the way in which the specimen is held at the moment of fracture, and in the shape of the hammer striking edge.